In-vehicle speech recognition device and in-vehicle equipment

Abstract

A speech recognition unit recognizes speech within a preset period. A determination unit determines whether the number of utterers in a vehicle is singular or plural. A recognition control unit adopts a recognition result relating to speech uttered after receiving an indication that an utterance is about to start when the number of utterers is plural, and when the number of utterers is singular, adopts a recognition result regardless of whether the recognition result relates to speech uttered after the indication is received or the recognition result relates to speech uttered in a case where the indication is not received. A control unit performs an operation corresponding to the recognition result adopted by the recognition control unit.

1 . An in-vehicle speech recognition device comprising:
 a speech recognition unit to recognize speech and output a recognition result;   a determiner to determine whether the number of utterers in a vehicle is singular or plural, and output a determination result; and   a recognition controller, on a basis of the results output by the speech recognition unit and the determiner, to adopt a recognition result relating to speech uttered after an indication that an utterance is about to start is received when the number of utterers is determined to be plural, and when the number of utterers is determined to be singular, to adopt a recognition result regardless of whether the recognition result relates to speech uttered after an indication that an utterance is about to start is received, or the recognition result relates to speech uttered in a case where the indication that an utterance is about to start is not received.   
     
     
         2 . The in-vehicle speech recognition device according to  claim 1 , wherein the determiner determines that the number of utterers is singular when the number of passengers in the vehicle is plural but the number of possible utterers is singular. 
     
     
         3 . The in-vehicle speech recognition device according to  claim 2 , wherein the determiner determines whether the passengers in the vehicle are awake or asleep, and counts passengers who are awake as the possible utterers. 
     
     
         4 . In-vehicle equipment comprising:
 a speech recognition unit to recognize speech and output a recognition result;   a determiner to determine whether the number of utterers in a vehicle is singular or plural, and output a determination result;   a recognition controller, on a basis of the results output by the speech recognition unit and the determiner, to adopt a recognition result relating to speech uttered after an indication that an utterance is about to start is received when the number of utterers is determined to be plural, and when the number of utterers is determined to be singular, to adopt a recognition result regardless of whether the recognition result relates to speech uttered after the indication that an utterance is about to start is received, or the recognition result relates to speech uttered in a case where the indication that an utterance is about to start is not received; and   a controller to perform an operation corresponding to the recognition result adopted by the recognition controller.